Diablo 4’s system design has been outlined in a recent blog post by the developers which unveils several details.
Since it’s still in development, some of these are definitely subject to change. Itemization, for example, is still a WIP, but the team is looking to add more complexity to things like Rares. The goal is to add greater variety to items on hand providing more depth.
Additionally, the UI is not final and will support Elective Mode-style skill selection. The team notes that skill selection will remain open for players.
Regarding Ancient Items, the team agrees with the community here,
“Ancients as they are don’t really serve a clear purpose in Diablo IV. We should have done a better job of explaining the role of Ancient Items in Diablo IV. We had a preliminary direction to share, but you’ve brought up some great points, so we’re revisiting our designs with your feedback in mind.”
Endgame progression is a little tricky, as the team doesn’t yet know if character leveling and the experience system should be finite or infinite. It looks like they’re still working out the pros and cons to each approach, including a level cap,
“A level cap gives us the ability to grant players a sense of completion. But for players who want to go deeper into the game, a second experience system allows us to capture the fun of achieving those really difficult endgame goals and ranks.”
Also, power does not come mostly from items in Diablo 4. The team wants to have a decent mix of sources of power like leveling up, skills, talents, etc. Finally, keyed dungeons are meant to increase the challenge facing players. It looks like the difference between keyed dungeons and rifts is that you’ll be able to strategize with your team before heading into a dungeon.
Read the full post here.
